hello all! I was a 3DL-er recently accepted as a 2016 corp member.
As for your questions about what happens after you get accepted, the Onboarding Team from your specific region will contact you within a few days to congratulate you and etc. Then you will have to confirm your acceptance by 2 weeks before getting additional information. If you have any doubts like I did, they will connect you with other TFA members to talk about whatever you’re worried about (e.g. you didn’t get your preferred placement or subject).
BUT AFTERWARDS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART IS PASSING YOUR EXAM!
If you do not pass the exam, you cannot teach!! You cannot interview with schools until you have passed your exam. So even though I was accepted, there was still a chance that I could get “kicked out” if I didn’t pass the exam. Now I haven’t taken a math/science class in over 5 years and didn’t know much about teaching pedagogies, so I may have stressed a little bit too much but…better passing it the first time & getting it over with! Also there’s a limit to how many times you can retake it and usually you have to wait a couple of weeks/month before taking it again.
After that is done and knocked off your to-do list, there’s just little things left to do like attending occasional webinars, filling out surveys, uploading resumes, etc by the required deadlines.
I think the earlier applicants who already passed their exam are more likely be matched with a school before Institute starts. (and yes, the rumor is true. We must take the first job offer. At least in my region, TFA sends out our resumes to different schools and the principal schedules an interview if they are interested. The first school that extends an offer, we must accept). But I’m not sure if that’s true for all regions or just for some.
I hope that answered some of the questions. Good luck tomorrow!!
@lakooh Thanks so much for the information!!! Are the webinars/taking the test all things for during the day? I work in a school now and have taken off time for the interviews… If you’re accepted, are all of these things mandatory/only offered during the work week? Thanks for any help- I’m worried I won’t be able to get more days/time off this semester if I’m even admitted!
Thanks so much for the information @lakooh How are you coming to terms with teaching a subject you aren’t completely comfortable with?
Thanks for the blog link @shellijax223 this can pass some time tonight since this thread isn’t as active as previous years. I was hoping more lurkers would have joined us by now =\
@TFA2016LD
I think they understand that most applicants are either students or are full/part-time employees, so usually they have two different days where you can sign up for the webinars where one day the webinar would be in the afternoon and the second day the webinar would be in the evening. I also think you can make it up on a totally different day if none of those days work for you. So far they’ve all been during the weekdays because TFA staff don’t work on the weekends. And yes, these action items are all mandatory.
As for the exam, I think it depends on your state since some states have their own state-specific exams like mine so you have to find out the dates on their official website. My region told us we had to take our exam within the next month and when I went to check available dates, alot of the slots were already taken which is why I ended up having to take it on a random Tuesday. But hopefully you can find an open weekend!
@TFA2016AJ
I still don’t know what grade level or subject I’m teaching yet, so I feel like I’m still playing the waiting game. One that thing reassured me was a current TFA corp member told me that they have a stack of folders with worksheets and lesson plans used by previous TFA teachers so even if we end up teaching a subject we’re not completely confident in, we still have something to use as a guideline.
I hope you guys get your preferred subject and location! I think that can really make or break your excitement and experience.
Thank you so much for coming back & answering our dying questions. Although we will know in a few hours the answers to some of these questions, I want to prematurely obsess over it now haha. @lakooh just to clarify, for your region, you had separate & isolated one on one interviews with principals vs the speed dating interview scenario?
Everyone should check out the blog Shellijax posted!! I’m reading through the author’s posts about institute & her positivity is so infectious! You hear so many negative accounts about TFA and not nearly enough positive ones. This one is awesome & exactly how I’ve dreamt my TFA experience will be. Hard work but rewarding. The blog is admittedly difficult to navigate through so you have to search the TFA tag. If you do not read any other posts, read her final thoughts about institute! Here’s the link for that post specifically: http://annagesch.blogspot.com/2012/07/notes-of-tfa-er-youre-gonna-miss-this.html?m=0
General Information
-Accepted or Rejected:
-Were you recruited/recommended or did you apply on your own?:
-Stage in life (graduating senior, professional, 1 year post undergrad, graduate studies):
-Are you already tied to education? (Certified, Education Major, or Substitute):
-Deadline you applied to:
-Did you have a phone interview?:
-Final Interview Date:
Transitional Funding
-Did you apply?:
-Date you submitted your application:
-Did your status or verification column ever update?:
-If yes, when?:
Placement
-Placement region:
-Placement subject:
-Experience/familiarity with your subject: (Undergrad major/minor, took a course or 2 pertaining to it in college, haven’t taken this subject since HS, etc):
-How were your region & subject ranked on your preference form?:
-Did you have special circumstances?:
***For the buddies that will be taking their credentials and awesomeness elsewhere: please share your experience regarding the first two sections as it will be very helpful for future applicants, and please substitute the placement section with the following section as it has seemed to be very encouraging in previous threads and fostered a very supportive community when people shared the following:
-What is your backup plan?:
-If you plan to reapply, what will you do to strengthen your application?:
-What year and which deadline do you plan on reapplying to?:
I wouldn’t be worried about it @awesomebins mine both say Yes and still says “Under Review” too and from last year a lot of theirs never said complete when they got acceptance
I remember my applicant center updated around 1:30-2:00 pm EST on notification day for the first deadline this year. I’m sooo annoyed because all I can see when I log in as an error message and i literally haven’t gotten any updates other than wait till March 17 to find out placement. I’m so paranoid that everyone’s will update and mine says error still…
The message you get when you’re rejected is so generic they just tell you what they look for in candidates and then wish you luck. I can’t believe this time when I log in it will say congrats!!!
